Exploring patterns in mental health treatment and interests of single adults in the United States: a secondary data analysis.

Objective: The objective of this study is to examine mental health treatment utilization and interest among the large and growing demographic of single adults in the United States, who face unique societal stressors and pressures that may contribute to their heightened need for mental healthcare. Method: We analyzed data from 3,453 single adults, focusing on those with possible mental health treatment needs by excluding those with positive self-assessments. We assessed prevalence and sociodemographic correlates of mental health treatment, including psychotherapy and psychiatric medication use, and interest in attending psychotherapy among participants who had never attended. Results: 26% were in mental health treatment; 17% were attending psychotherapy, 16% were taking psychiatric medications, and 7% were doing both. Further, 64% had never attended psychotherapy, of which 35% expressed interest in future attendance. There were differences in current psychotherapy attendance and psychiatric medication use by gender and sexual orientation, with women and gay/lesbian individuals more likely to engage in both forms of mental health treatment. Additionally, interest in future psychotherapy among those who had never attended varied significantly by age, gender, and race. Younger individuals, women, and Black/African-American participants showed higher likelihoods of interest in psychotherapy. Conclusion: Our research highlights a critical gap in mental health treatment utilization among single adults who may be experiencing a need for those services. Despite a seemingly higher likelihood of engagement in mental health treatment compared to the general population, only a minority of single adults in our sample were utilizing mental health treatment. This underutilization and the observed demographic disparities in mental health treatment underscore the need for targeted outreach, personalized treatment plans, enhanced provider training, and policy advocacy to ensure equitable access to mental healthcare for single adults across sociodemographic backgrounds.

Women Who Experience More Affectionate Touch Report Better Body Satisfaction and Relationship Outcomes.

Affectionate touch (e.g. hugging, handholding) is an essential component of many intimate relationships and is a primary contributor to overall relationship satisfaction as well as sexual satisfaction. Affectionate touch is understood to be a form of non-verbal communication in which the giver is expressing positive feelings toward the receiver. Here, we propose that affectionate touch also positively impacts receivers' body satisfaction, because affectionate touch is a positive message communicated toward the receiver's body. In a cross-sectional sample of romantically partnered women (N = 1,156), we assessed the association between affectionate touch frequency and body satisfaction. We also investigated whether affectionate touch is associated with relationship/sexual satisfaction in part because touch helps to improve women's evaluations of their own bodies. Our results showed that body satisfaction was a significant, partial mediator and a valid path through which affectionate touch shapes relationship quality. Receiving affectionate touch could bolster relationship satisfaction and self-perceptions among women. Given the prevalence of body dissatisfaction amongst women, these results suggest that the underexplored associations between affectionate touch and body satisfaction may have significant impacts on a wide array of future empirical and applied research trajectories.

Exploring the Orgasm Gap Across Racial/Ethnic Groups: A Descriptive Analysis.

Orgasm gaps between heterosexual men and women, and for women across sexual orientations, are well-established in research. However, no large-scale assessments of orgasm frequency by race/ethnicity exist. Here, we analyzed 10 years of cross-sectional Singles in America survey data between 2011 and 2021 to investigate the orgasm gap at the intersection of gender and racial/ethnic identity (i.e. White, Black, Hispanic/Latino, and Asian) for heterosexual participants (N = 27,347). White and Hispanic/Latino men reported greater orgasm frequency than Black and Asian men. Hispanic/Latino women reported the greatest orgasm frequency, and Asian women reported the lowest, with White and Black women's frequencies in between. The orgasm gap between men and women was largest for White (d = 0.89) and Asian (d = 0.86) groups, although Asian participants reported a lower orgasm frequency than White participants overall. The orgasm gap was smaller for Hispanic/Latino participants (d = 0.66), because Hispanic/Latino women reported a greater orgasm frequency than other racial/ethnic groups of women. The orgasm gap was smaller for Black participants (d = 0.61), because Black men reported a lower orgasm frequency than some other racial/ethnic groups of men. This descriptive study serves as an important starting point for future research on orgasm experiences across racial/ethnic groups.

Medical Mistrust and Healthcare Seeking Among Women of Color with Chronic Vulvovaginal Pain.

BACKGROUND: Chronic vulvovaginal pain (CVVP), an umbrella term encompassing several gynecological pain conditions (e.g., vulvodynia, vaginismus), has a prevalence rate of 7-8% in the USA and is characterized by considerable diagnostic delay in patient experience research. Furthermore, current research in this area focuses largely on the experiences of white women, while the experiences of women of color are underrepresented. METHOD: In the present cross-sectional study (N = 488), we surveyed women of color (i.e., Asian, Black, and/or Hispanic/Latinx women) with CVVP about their perceptions and experiences with medical mistrust, healthcare seeking, and healthcare avoidance. RESULTS: Using the suspicion subscale of the Group-Based Medical Mistrust Scale, we found significant racial and ethnic differences in medical suspicion scores, with non-Black Hispanic/Latinx women reporting the highest suspicion scores and non-Hispanic/Latinx Black women reporting the lowest scores. Racial differences disappeared, however, after examining medical mistrust and perceived discrimination as predictors for various healthcare outcomes related to the journey to diagnosis and healthcare avoidance behaviors. We found that while suspicion was a reliable predictor of increased diagnostic delay and healthcare avoidance in many contexts, the results for perceived discrimination were more varied, suggesting considerable nuance in the relationship between medical mistrust, perceived discrimination, and healthcare seeking outcomes. CONCLUSION: These findings point to shared experiences of medical mistrust via suspicion that broadly characterize women of color's experiences in seeking CVVP-related care-future research is needed to examine nuances within racial and ethnic groups regarding their healthcare seeking experiences in the CVVP context.

Constructive communication patterns as related to relationship satisfaction, seizure severity, and patient activation among people with epilepsy.

PURPOSE: People with epilepsy (PWE) must manage their condition properly for both quality and longevity of life. Effective self-management is critical and can be monitored via levels of patient activation (i.e., a continuum of taking a passive vs active role in personal healthcare) and the presence/severity of seizures. One known influencer of self-management is the quality of one's intimate relationship, a documented area of major concern for PWE. Here we examined a critical facet of PWEs' intimate relationships-(un)constructive communication with their partner. METHODS: Using data from a web-based survey of 89 PWE, and regression-based mediation analyses, we examined associations with patient activation and seizure severity. We added further explanatory utility by examining relationship satisfaction as a mediator of those links. RESULTS: There were positive links between more constructive communication, more patient activation, and less severe seizures. The explanatory path of constructive communication to better relationship satisfaction to lower seizure severity emerged as a significant partial mediation (i.e., direct effect remained significant), while relationship satisfaction fully mediated (i.e., direct effect became non-significant) the link between constructive communication and greater patient activation. CONCLUSION: Our results provide insight into how relationship processes may impact the experience of epilepsy, including seizure severity and patient activation. Future research is needed.

Engagement with Emerging Forms of Sextech: Demographic Correlates from a National Sample of Adults in the United States.

Social technology is ever-evolving, and increasingly offers novel domains for sexual experiences. In the current study, we investigated demographic correlates of engagement with emerging forms of sextech, defined here as internet-based applications, platforms, or devices used for sexual pleasure. Our web-based, demographically representative sample included 7,512 American adults aged 18-65 years, with a near-even gender split of men/women and moderate racial diversity (63% White). Participants indicated their engagement with eight forms of sextech, including six emerging forms of sexual technology (visiting erotic camming sites, participating in camming streams, teledildonic use, accessing virtual reality pornography, playing sexually explicit video games, and sexual messaging with chatbots or artificially intelligent entities) as well as two more common domains (online pornography and sexting). Participants who were younger, were men, had higher income, and were sexual minorities reported more frequent engagement with all forms of sextech assessed. Unlike prior work on pornography, religious individuals were more likely to engage with emerging sextech. Beyond online pornography (50%) and sexting (29%), visiting camming sites (18%) and playing sexually explicit video games (13%) were relatively common. Findings may contribute to the destigmatization of sextech engagement and forecast future norms in technologically-facilitated sexual behavior.

Sexual Desire in the Time of COVID-19: How COVID-Related Stressors Are Associated with Sexual Desire in Romantic Relationships.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting social distancing measures have caused widespread social and economic disruptions, resulting in spikes in unemployment and financial instability, along with drastic changes to people's ability to feel socially connected. Many of the changes resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic are risk factors for depressive symptoms, which are associated with lower levels of sexual desire. The current research (N = 4,993) examined whether responses to external stressors brought on by COVID-19 (i.e., financial concern, worry, loneliness, stress) were associated with sexual desire among a multi-national sample of people in relationships (Studies 1-2), and whether this association was, in part, due to reports of depressive symptoms (Study 2). In the period immediately following the onset of the pandemic, more financial concern (Study 1) and worry (Study 2) were associated with higher sexual desire, while other factors, like stress (Studies 1-2), were associated with lower desire. We also followed a subset of participants every two weeks during the initial stages of the pandemic and at times when people reported greater stress, loneliness, financial strain, or worry than their average, they reported greater depressive symptoms, which was, in turn, associated with lower sexual desire. Results suggest that the social isolation and stress resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic have mixed associations with sexual desire at the onset of the pandemic. But over time, when people report heightened COVID-related stressors, they tend to report lower sexual desire for their partner, in part because these stressors are associated with more depressive symptoms.

Medical avoidance among marginalized groups: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Medical avoidance is common among U.S. adults, and may be emphasized among members of marginalized communities due to discrimination concerns. In the current study, we investigated whether this disparity in avoidance was maintained or exacerbated during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We assessed the likelihood of avoiding medical care due to general-, discrimination-, and COVID-19-related concerns in an online sample (N = 471). As hypothesized, marginalized groups (i.e., non-White race, Latinx/e ethnicity, non-heterosexual sexual orientation, high BMI) endorsed more general- and discrimination-related medical avoidance than majoritized groups. However, marginalized groups were equally likely to seek COVID-19 treatment as majoritized groups. Implications for reducing medical avoidance among marginalized groups are discussed.

PrEP Familiarity, Interest, and Usage Among 364 Black and Hispanic Adults in Indiana.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, is a once-daily preventative prescription pill against HIV for adults or adolescents who have sex or inject drugs. PrEP may be especially useful among Black and Hispanic Americans, who are particularly at risk for HIV in the United States. In spite of this vulnerability, rates of PrEP use in Black and Hispanic communities are low. Here, we examined familiarity with, prior usage of, and future interest in PrEP among 364 Black and Hispanic Indiana residents. Indiana is an important context for this work, due to severe HIV outbreaks in the area over the last 8 years. Around half of all participants had never heard of PrEP, with Hispanic participants being less familiar than Black participants. Prior PrEP use was low, at around 10%, and was lower for Hispanic than Black participants. Around 21% of all participants reported interest in PrEP after learning of it in our study. Further, participants identified strategies that would make discussions about PrEP with a medical provider more comfortable. Black and Hispanic participants reported feeling the most comfortable with addressing PrEP usage with providers if: (a) the provider was the one who brought up the subject of PrEP, (b) there was written information available to the patient (i.e., brochures), and (c) the patient already knew they qualified for the prescription in terms of personal eligibility and insurance coverage. Additional provider and patient education, as well as openness on the part of the provider, can help to lessen the disparities associated with PrEP need and actual PrEP usage.

Chronic Vulvovaginal Pain in Patients of Color: Benefits of Partner Supportiveness in Relation to Sexual Dissatisfaction and Distress.

Within the social support literature, individuals who experience chronic pain have shown many positive outcomes and benefits when receiving the appropriate level of emotional support. In the current study, individuals who experience chronic vulvovaginal pain (CVVP) were asked about their partner's supportiveness, other sources of emotional support, and their satisfaction and stress surrounding sexual activity. The participants (n = 333) also identified as people of color, with a majority identifying as African American or Black (n = 227). The participants indicated that their partners were overall supportive of their diagnoses and found other emotional support sources through medical professionals, vulvar/vaginal pain-specific medical information websites, and family or friends. After conducting linear regressions, results showed the partner supportiveness was associated with less distress and less dissatisfaction surrounding sexual activity. Future research is suggested to further examine social support's role for minority patients who experience chronic vulvovaginal pain.

An exploratory test of a couples-based condom-use intervention designed to promote pleasurable and safer penile-vaginal sex among university students.

Objective: Dual use of male condoms and female contraceptives is widely advocated for unplanned pregnancy prevention, yet college students often neglect condoms. This feasibility and acceptability study assessed the efficacy of a self-guided home-based condom-promotion intervention among college students in heterosexual relationships. Participants: Fifty-nine couples who had been together at least 30 days and had penile-vaginal sex at least twice weekly. Methods: Assessments were done at baseline and 6 months later. Outcomes were frequency of condom-unprotected penile-vaginal sex and four psychosocial mediators of condom use. Results: Frequency of unprotected penile-vaginal sex decreased over time. Several corresponding psychosocial mediators showed change, particularly among women. Using actor-partner interdependence modeling, men's increase in condom use was associated with an increase in women's sexual pleasure. Conclusion: Findings support implementation of a brief, self-guided, home-based condom-use intervention that could lower incidence of unplanned pregnancy and STIs among heterosexually active college students.

How Can I Get COVID?: Understanding Differences in American Heterosexual and Sexual Minority Men's Risk Perception.

Men are more vulnerable to COVID-19 infections compared to women, but their risk perceptions around COVID-19 are persistently lower. Further, men often engage in less health promotion behavior because self-care in this capacity is seen as weak or less masculine. This combination has consequences for mortality; thus, a better understanding of men's COVID-19 cognitions and individual difference factors is critical. In a web-based survey conducted during the beginning stages of the pandemic in the U.S., we collected risk perceptions of various sexual and non-sexual behaviors from heterosexual (n = 137) and gay/bisexual men (n = 108). There were no significant sexual orientation differences for perceptions of COVID-19 risk from routine activities or in overall risk estimates. However, gay/bisexual men did report engaging in more precautionary behavior while socializing (i.e., masking, social distancing) and reported higher risk perceptions than did heterosexual men for nearly all intimate and sexual activities. A more nuanced understanding of cognitions around COVID-19 is needed to better understand motivation for-and especially motivation against-pursuing vaccinations and continuing precautionary behavior.

Changes in Utilization of Birth Control and PrEP During COVID-19 in the USA: A Mixed-Method Analysis.

In the USA, the COVID-19 pandemic has created challenges beyond the direct consequences of the infection. Because of shifting resources in response to need, many domains within the healthcare sector unrelated to COVID-19 have had interrupted abilities to provide care. In the current study, we focus on preventative sexual health care during the pandemic. In a sample of 511 (mean age = 27.7) people, we examined quantitative data regarding continuation and discontinuation of birth control and PrEP during the pandemic, along with qualitative data illustrating the underlying reasons for participants' (dis)continuation. Results showed that most (92.5%) of birth control users reported continuation of their birth control, with the predominant reasons reported being use for health reasons, long-acting reversible contraceptive use, access to remote healthcare services, and increased vigilance over pregnancy prevention. Conversely, around half (52.6%) of PrEP-using participants reported already discontinuing or planning to discontinue their PrEP regimen. Temporary abstinence and concerns about accessing in-person health care were the predominant reasons for PrEP discontinuation. These results have implications for both researchers and sexual healthcare providers. Disruptions to preventative sexual health care should be considered in ongoing research about patient needs, and healthcare providers may wish to consider particular challenges faced by PrEP users concerning re-start and continuation.

Sextech Use as a Potential Mental Health Reprieve: The Role of Anxiety, Depression, and Loneliness in Seeking Sex Online.

Depression, anxiety, and loneliness have long been recognized as global mental health concerns. To temporarily relieve psychological distress, self-soothing behavior is common, including engagement in sexual behaviors that are linked to positive mental well-being. Considering the COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbated many mental health ailments alongside physical distancing regulations, we specifically examined online sexual behavior via the use of emergent digital sexual technologies, or sextech. In a 2019 study of 8004 American adults, we assessed whether people experiencing higher anxiety, depression, and/or loneliness were more likely to engage in sextech use. Furthermore, we examined whether anxiety or depression mediated the association between loneliness and sextech use, as loneliness is one contributor to anxiety and depression. People with higher anxiety and depression were more likely to engage in sextech. However, those who were more lonely were less likely to engage with sextech, suggesting the aforementioned patterns were not due to lack of social connection. Our findings suggest people with mental health struggles may be drawn to interactive, digital forms of sexual behavior as a means of alleviating symptoms through distraction or self-soothing. This insight offers an important pathway for expanding the scope of mental health interventions, particularly as technology becomes increasingly prevalent and accessible in everyday life.

Dating and sexualities across the life course: The interactive effects of aging and gender.

Research on aging and sexuality has proliferated in recent years. However, little is known about the gender-specific effects of aging on dating and sexuality. Using survey data from the 2014 wave of Singles in America (SIA), a comprehensive survey on adult singles' experiences with dating and sexuality, we examine whether age differentially affects heterosexual women's and men's dating and sexual attitudes and behaviors and whether gender differences persist across the life course. We find that men remain active in the dating and sexual marketplace longer than women. Although main effects of gender differences are documented in dating and sexual attitudes and behaviors, the results show that gender does not operate the same across the life course. Notably, gender differences shrink or are eliminated in attitudes and behaviors surrounding partnering in midlife and late adulthood, suggesting that age is integral to understanding gendered heterosexuality.

Relationship and sexual satisfaction are associated with better disease self-management in persons with epilepsy.

Prior research has demonstrated that PWEs view intimate interpersonal relationships as personally important and as a substantive challenge in their lives. This is significant as high-quality intimate relationships have been linked with greater well-being and better healthcare self-management in other disease contexts. For persons with epilepsy (PWEs), self-management is critical for seizure control, lower mortality, and better quality of life. In the current study, we conducted the first known investigation into the quality of PWEs' intimate relationships and their self-management abilities. In a sample of 88 PWEs, using the Adult Epilepsy Self-Management Instrument, results demonstrate links between greater relationship satisfaction and sexual satisfaction with better self-management on seven of the eleven subscales: health communication, coping skills, social support, seizure tracking, seizure response, stress management, and wellness; satisfaction was unrelated to the treatment, safety, medical adherence, and proactivity subscales. Importantly, these results held while controlling for age, gender, social support, and presence of comorbidities. These findings provide some evidence of the importance of intimate relationships in understanding PWEs' healthcare management abilities. Given that intimate relationship dynamics have been shown to be highly amenable to intervention, this is an area of potential interest for improving self-management in PWEs.

Desire, Familiarity, and Engagement in Polyamory: Results From a National Sample of Single Adults in the United States.

Coupledom and notions of intimacy and family formation with one committed partner are hallmarks of family and relationship science. Recent national surveys in the United States and Canada have found that consensually non-monogamous relationships are common, though prevalence of specific types of consensual non-monogamy are unknown. The present research draws on a United States Census based quota sample of single adults (N = 3,438) to estimate the prevalence of desire for, familiarity with, and engagement in polyamory-a distinct type of consensually non-monogamous relationship where people typically engage in romantic love and sexual intimacy with multiple partners. Results show that 1 out of 6 people (16.8%) desire to engage in polyamory, and 1 out of 9 people (10.7%) have engaged in polyamory at some point during their life. Approximately 1 out of 15 people (6.5%) reported that they knew someone who has been or is currently engaged in polyamory. Among participants who were not personally interested in polyamory, 1 out of 7 (14.2%) indicated that they respect people who engage in polyamory. Few sociodemographic correlates emerged; no differences in prevalence were found based on political affiliation, income, religion, geographic region, or race/ethnicity. Sexual minorities, men, and younger adults reported greater desire to engage in polyamory (compared to heterosexuals, women, and older adults, respectively). Men and people with lower education backgrounds were more likely to have previously engaged in polyamory (compared to women and people with higher education backgrounds, respectively). Given that emotional and sexual intimacy is an important part of most people's lives, understanding the varied ways in which people navigate their intimate lives is critical for the fields of relationship, sexuality, and family science.

Women's and Men's Reactions to Receiving Unsolicited Genital Images from Men.

Recently, mounting anecdotal reports - mostly by heterosexual women on Internet-based dating platforms - have drawn attention to the frequency of men sending unsolicited photos of their own genitals (i.e., "dick pics"). While initial research has documented that the sending of unsolicited nude pictures is fairly common, with generally similar underlying motivations for sending solicited and unsolicited images, understanding recipients' experiences has social-behavioral research, clinical, and potentially legal implications. In a U.S. sample of 2,045 women of all sexual identities and 298 gay/bisexual men, we found that among those who had ever received a "dick pic", nearly all (91%) had also received an unsolicited "dick pic." Women of all sexual identities predominantly experienced negative responses to these unsolicited nude images, with only a minority selecting any positive or neutral/ambivalent reactions. Additionally, women who experienced more unsolicited advances from men in the last year were more likely to select multiple negative reactions, and younger (vs. older) women selected more negative and neutral/ambivalent responses. Conversely, gay and bisexual men responded positively, with few choosing any negative or neutral/ambivalent responses. Findings highlight gendered dynamics of unsolicited sexting and misaligned reactions to male senders, raising questions about sexual harassment in the digital age.

Mobile sex-tech apps: How use differs across global areas of high and low gender equality.

Digital technologies are increasingly intertwined into people's sexual lives, with growing scholarly interest in the intersection of sex and technology (sex-tech). However, much of the literature is limited by its over emphasis on negative outcomes and the predominance of work by and about North Americans, creating the impression that sex-tech is largely a Western phenomenon. Based on responses from 130,885 women in 191 countries, we assessed how women around the world interact with mobile technology for sex-related purposes, and whether in areas of greater gender inequality, technological accessibility may be empowering women with knowledge about sexuality. We investigated women's use of technology to find sexual partners, learn about sex and improve their sexual relationships, and track their own sexual health. About one-fifth reported using mobile apps to find sexual partners. This use varied by region: about one-third in Oceania, one-fourth in Europe and the Americas, and one-fifth in Asia and Africa. Staying connected when apart was the most commonly selected reason for app use with a sexual partner. About one-third had used an app to track their own sexual activity. Very few reported that the app they used to improve their sexual relationships was detrimental (0.2%) or not useful (0.6%). Women in countries with greater gender inequality were less likely to have used mobile apps to find a sexual partner, but nearly four times more likely to have engaged in sending and receiving sexts. To our knowledge, this study provides the most comprehensive global data on sex-tech use thus far, demonstrates significant regional variations in sex-tech use, and is the first to examine women's engagement in sex-related mobile technology in locations with greater gender disparities. These findings may inform large-scale targeted studies, interventions, and sex education to improve the lives of women around the world.

The magnitude and potential impact of missing data in a sexual violence campus climate survey.

Objective: Assess the impact of survey non-response and non-completion for a campus climate survey. Participants: Intended for all degree-seeking students at a large, public, midwestern university, November 2014. Methods: The survey covered sexual assault experiences and related attitudes. We identify the magnitude and potential impact of survey non-response by comparing demographic data between respondents and non-respondents, sexual assault prevalence between early and late respondents, and demographic and attitudinal data between survey completers and partial completers. Results: Demographic groups were differentially represented in the survey. Sexual assault prevalence based on survey results may be underestimated for men, overestimated for women. Sensitive questions did not increase drop-off. Students completing more of the survey differed from those completing less. Conclusions: Colleges must plan survey administration and data sensitivity analysis to reduce potential for bias. Resources for sexual assault-related needs based on estimates from campus climate surveys with high non-response will likely be misallocated.